How important is this retailer to you?
Buying retail data represents a significant investment for most companies and it´s therefor worth reflecting upon how you utilize that data and how you use it effectively for your brands in a way that makes sense both to you and your customer.
How important are the retailer’s shopper to your growth?
Different retailers attract different shoppers and shopping missions. It´s therefor important to understand who your most important shoppers are and how they shop at different retailers in order for you to understand if they can be influenced at the retailer´s stores.
What can you do differently if you had retailer data?
By building hypotheses around what we believe about shoppers, we can understand whether data will support the advancement of these opportunities. Retail data will not answer everything, so being clear on the questions we plan to ask helps understand whether the data will be valuable or not.
Sales scanning data tells us what got bought, when and where. Loyalty card data adds in ‘who’. But neither give much information on “why” shopper did what they did (nor indeed why not).
The big advantage with retail data however is that it´s near time data. This allows us to quickly understand sales performance all the way down to single item at store level.
Will you be able to handle the data?
As a gentle watch out, it is important to ensure that your team has the bandwidth and the skill set to handle the extra data. Check first how existing data is being used and reflect upon the change process needed to handle it in a different way than done today.
Are you getting the most out of the data?
Retailer data is extremely detailed and much more complex than for example Nielsen market data. Retailer data handles transactional data on a daily or weekly level from potentially thousands of stores. If not handled correctly you will end up just scratching the surface and drown in an abundance of information.
Do you have what it takes to handle retailer data?
Of course, there are other reasons for buying data from retailers. It can for example strengthen the relationship with the retailer all the way down to store level and by doing so strengthen your position at the retailer as an important supplier. Not buying data may therefor send a negative message, so always be careful when saying ‘no’ to an important customer. Most retailers expect you to add value if you handle their data. Make sure you have the resources and tools in place to do so.
Will the retailer act on my recommendations?
Do they have a track record of implementing recommendations both at store level as well as HQ?’ If not – why are we wasting time and money on their data?
Looking to build your point-of-sale analysis toolkit?
CatMan Solution can help you, your team or your organization learn more through a single source of truth with a customized set up for your organization. We have some great intuitive and interactive category management best practice reports and dashboards available in power BI to meet your needs.